The Center Director has the authority and responsibility to define the Center's annual and long-term priorities and activities. Senior Leadership, Program Leaders and Faculty are significant contributors in the planning and evaluation process, as are Internal Advisory Groups consisting of the Program Planning Group (PPG), the Shared Resources Team, and the Administrative Team. External Advisory Groups consisting of the Cancer Center's Scientific Advisory Board (CCSAB) and Advisor for the Cancer Center Administration provide advice and new perspectives on current activities and future directions. Faculty provide input to planning and evaluation activities through Annual Reviews, Annual Faculty Retreat, and monthly Program Meetings. In these meetings. Program Leaders summarize the outcome of PPG discussions and actively solicit faculty feedback. This enhances the communication of Center goals to the faculty in a timely manner, and actively incorporates faculty opinions as part of developing plans. The Shared Resources Team evaluates the services of the core facilities in monthly meetings that are open to all faculty, and makes recommendations about future service needs and directions, including potential new instrumentation. Based on these sources of input, the PPG formulates specific annual goals and long-term plans, and presents these goals to CCSAB each spring. In parallel. Cancer Center's Administrative Team identifies mechanisms via which Center members can support these goals, through incentives such as pilot grant funding, development of core facilities and new instrumentation, and recruitment of new collaborating faculty. Once the goals are set, PPG and its ad hoc Task Forces consisting of several faculty members, including Recruitment and Pilot Project Committees, are primary drivers for implementing the goals that bring to the Center new technologies, new areas of research, and opportunities for scientific collaborations. Approved goals are distributed to all faculty and discussed in subsequent Program and Center meetings, to encourage Center-wide participation via various incentive mechanisms described above, and to assure continuous and iterative feedback from faculty on Center activities. Funding in the total amount of $16,000 is requested for the costs associated with the External Advisory Group activities, which include annual CCSAB meeting and annual Center Administration review. $20,000 is requested for the Annual Faculty Retreat. Institutional funds will be utilized to cover Internal Advisory Group activities, including monthly PPG, Administrative Team and Shared Resources Team meetings, as well as monthly Program meetings and Seminar Series.